Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to "Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Jefferies upgraded VNOM to a "Buy" with a $55 price target, implying about a 21.9% upside from the stock's prior close.
• The stock has broad analyst support — a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $54.47 as multiple firms (KeyCorp, Piper Sandler, Wells Fargo, TD Securities) raised ratings or targets.
• Viper Energy beat the quarter's estimates with $0.31 EPS (vs. $0.27) and $435M revenue (vs. $415.5M), with revenue up 87.6% year-over-year, though the company still reported a negative net margin (-4.87%) and a negative P/E.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday. The firm currently has a $55.00 price target on the oil and gas producer's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target points to a potential upside of 21.90% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on VNOM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Viper Energy from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Viper Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. TD Securities upped their target price on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $54.47.

Viper Energy Price Performance

VNOM opened at $45.12 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.17 and a 200 day moving average of $40.55. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $35.10 and a 52-week high of $49.08. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $16.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -196.17, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 4.87%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the third quarter worth about $38,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 503.3% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 68.3% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy Partners LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and intends to acquire mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties. As a pass-through entity, Viper Energy Partners does not engage in drilling or production operations directly; instead, it generates revenues by holding overriding royalty interests, mineral fee interests and royalty fee interests. These interests entitle the partnership to receive a percentage of the proceeds from hydrocarbons produced and sold by third-party operators.

The partnership's assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin, with a primary focus on the Delaware Basin region of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

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